Sonic Issues: Why Sonic Is Failing - April 3, 2000
Submitted by: Sonique
Subject: Thoughts on the cause/effect of the downfall of Sonic The Hedgehog
Website: Perfect Chaos

You may be wondering what’s making me think Sonic is failing, but let’s all face the facts, Archie has been going down since EndGame and Sonic himself hasn't been the same for a while now.

In the time of the SatAM and AoStH, Sonic reigned the superhero world and was even more popular than Mickey Mouse, but once the SatAM got canned, Sonic slowly started to go down. We still have the comics, but seriously, the comics just suck.. from what I hear. I don’t actually read the comics because to be plain and simple, I don’t like to read... another thing is I became a Sonic fan after End Game and it seemed pretty pointless to pick up after that. Also, around the time of SatAM going down, SEGA went though a bunch of systems that completely sucked ass! (Hey, I said the swearing would be minimal not non-existant) People lost faith in Sonic and Sega and turned to their Nintendos and Playstations. For some people, SEGA never regained their faith, and they lost all hope for SEGA to prevail.

Another point is that Sonic himself doesn't seem as cool as he used to be. What first drew you to Sonic? He was a way past cool speedy hedgehog with an attitude, right? Key word there, WAS. Let’s face it, Sonic just isn’t as cool as he used to be. He doesn’t have that edge to him. When was the last time you heard people talk about how ‘cool’ Sonic was? I haven’t heard it in ages and the main reason is because Sonic has changed for the worse. Even now with the Dreamcast out, it’s not Sonic that’s popular. It’s SEGA themselves or the graphics on the Dreamcast. Dreamcast this, Sega that, Sega Rally 2 this, House of the Dead that.. you hardly hear anything about Sonic himself.

A good example is how in Sonic 1, 2 and others, if you had Sonic stand still for just a few seconds, he’d get impatient, tap his foot or tell you to go on; on Sonic Adventure, he has to stand there for quite some time and he says things like, "I’d better get going." That isn’t attitude. Sure he’s Sonic, he’s blue and fast, but he’s not Sonic. He doesn’t talk cool as much, he’s not as impatient, I don’t know what he’s in, but it’s not my face and SEGA expects us to think he’s cool with an attitude (if you want to call it attitude) like that?

One of the reasons the comics suck is because Ken had to change a ton of his ideas at the last possible moment because SEGA wanted to save Sally, so they may use her in the future. That’s a bunch of bull on a stick. They saved Sally because they didn’t want to see their mascot cry. That’s right, no tears for Sonic. Cool people don’t cry according to Sega. They sure had no problem with Sonia or Manic crying, but Sonic could not. (except when he was a kid) Another thing is this ‘Rotor roboticised’ rumor. I mean, why Rotor? They’ve all ready shipped him off else where from what I hear. I won’t go into it too much, for it is just a rumor at this point, but to roboticize him would be one of the biggest mistakes in Sonic history. If it is true, Ken Penders is just asking for another repeat of End Game. I think if he wants to kill or roboticise someone, he should just do it and get it over with without any warning. Then, he won’t have a repeat of End Game and we wouldn’t have fans so upset before it happens. Personally, I’m wondering what became of Snively. I’m probably the only one, but I miss the little guy. Anywho.. SEGA is constantly getting into Archie’s way and if anything, they should work together or SEGA should go make their own comic. I understand that they created Sonic and don't like the way he turned out in Archie, well TOUGH! They shouldn’t have given their mascot away in that case, or they should be using Sally in Bunnie in their other games. (Yes, I know about Spinball, but that was a one time deal.) Perhaps a game with Sally would do well, seeing as how she is quite popular in the Sonicverse.

So, Ken Penders expects to walk in to DiC and Sega headquarters and say, "Let’s make a new series." And they’ll say, "Okay, Ken sure!" Yeah right! The reason why there can’t be a new series is because of the fact that Sonic isn’t popular enough. That’s what this whole essay is about. That’s one of the reasons SU failed... one of the many reasons. (that and smart Sonic fans like me boycotted it) All together, the Sonicverse seems to be a big mess right now and that’s why Sonic is failing. I still have faith though, and I await patiently for the next big break for Sonic. I know if we work hard enough, the Sonic we grew to love will return. It’s just a matter of time.

And now, I await your flames.
Sonique
Perfect Chaos